Blitzer Beetle
Model Number: 58122
Released
TBA
Drive
2WD rear, gear differential
Suspension
4 independent double wishbones, coilover oilfilled shocks
Chassis Description
Plastic Bathtub Design
Body Type
Highly Detailed ABS Plastic
Motor
540
Original Price
12800 Yen
Width
295mm
Length
394mm
Height
180mm
Wheel Base
260mm
Tread Front
248mm
Tread Rear
242mm
Ground Clearance
33mm
Weight
1850g
Scale
1/10th
Tires
front:45/98mm
Rear:52/99mm
Sturdy, reliable, off road car, and has the Beetle shell too !! A great car for most surfaces, has almost monster truck sized wheels and tyres.[stulec52]
Reviews
mhbmxr
I bought one of these as my way back in to RC driving again, its a real blast. I don't have the experience to really compare this to anything else but I can say its a bunch of fun to drive, responsive and double tough. Anyone with a slight knowledge of how cars work will be able to detect the bump steer though, its pretty clear during assembly, which as most have noted is a pretty straightforward affair, for me as a 'noob' the build was more interesting than challenging, I love putting these things together.
I had read a good idea would be to upgrade to metal bearings during the build, I did and I'm glad of it, even totally stock this wicked little buggy tears along over any terrain and will take pretty much anything I can throw at it (some of my pics are testament to that). so I cant imagine what that would do to the nylon bearings. I'm a VW fan so I chose this body style over the Stadium Blitzer based on aesthetics more than anything despite knowing the racing truck shell was polycarbonate and probably better at taking knocks but the Blitzer Beetles hard plastic body is really tough and its classic shape means after most rolls or flips its likely to land back on its wheels.
If I have one niggle its that its ability exceeds its power, a new motor and pinion is certainly on the cards (if only to hit some larger jumps) as is suspension upgrades and I will certainly do the bump steer fix as I hope this will only make it better.
Percymon
As others have said, a tough and very useable chassis design - it has its flaws, the steering geometry being the major one, but its soooooo much fun and this makes it a great regularly runner vehicle. The big chunky orange wheels and the dark bodywork (i did mine gunmetal) really make this one stand out from more mundane buggy designs. The dampers need a bit of help with preload spacers to keep the frotn and rear end upright when driving, but easily sorted. I dropped a 17x2 motor in mine and it goes very well indeed
Blacque Jacque
Simple. Tough. Fun.
Add to that the classic Beetle body & it's a great model.
The drive train will handle big power, even brushless. It does suffer from the one thing that plagues most Tamiya kits these days though; the soft alloy pinion. If you're building a runner, throw the kit pinion away (or give it to someone you don't like) and go buy yourself a hardened steel replacement, they are cheaper than the genuine Tamiya spares & you'll only ever need one, even with brushless. The only other really worthwhile hopup is to replace the dogbones with universal shafts or CVD's, Thundershot universals are the ones listed in the manual & work perfectly, the newer DF03 one are supposed to fit too but I haven't tried this.
The suspension may be simple, but it works surprisingly well, soaking up the bumps easily. The wide, almost square stance means it's stable, even at ludicrous speeds. The annoying bump steer is easily solved by fitting the stub axles on the opposite side, so the ball end is underneath & readjust the tie rods, not a total cure, but 90% better than stock.
The battery strap is fiddly & irritating, but that's no reason not to get one & the location of the receiver & speed controller means some brushless speedos need longer motor leads or mounting further back (I fitted a bracket between the rear body mounts for an EZRun system).
All in all a great package.
Scorpn
I raced one of these for a couple of years before I bought a purpose built truck. Put some Kyosho Gold shocks, a polycarb truck body, a set of Proline Gladiator II tyres to gear it up and the Technigold and CPR from my Avante. It was a little rocket and did suprisingly well but started breaking things when I was getting monstered. The shocks made a huge difference to the handling, but the lack of adjustment and gearing started to tell against it, Good fun though, every time I drove it I had a smile on my face
Henk4Focus
Old school fun is the way of the Blitzer cars. Don't expect state of the art suspension on this Bug. The front wheels looks east and west under full compression so care has to be taken with the setup of the front steering arms. But once past the little shortcomings of the chassis it is a blast. Beef up the rear suspension as it tends to drag its rear under acceleration so the chassis does get scratched big time.
One oversight by Tamiya was to add a driver with smoked windows. Duh! What's the use so get clear windows from a Scorcher or make up glass from clear lexan or perspex.
A true classic in the Tamiya line up. So if you don't have one yet, start searching and add this to your collection.
BeetleRacer69
One of the best Tamiya's, IMO. Never had the oppertunity to build one 'out of the box', but the ones that I own/ have owned are the easiest to work on. Apart from the steering servo mounting position, can be a little bit of a pain. One other thing that I'd like to change on the 'Blitzer', more variety of pinions. The two choices are okay, but for us 'speed freaks' who like to go as quick as possible, (even if that means for the shortest run time) a couple other pinions would make a difference. Again Tamiya have come to the party with a sturdy, reliable, good performing off roader, coupled with the all time classic VW Beetle body.
For anyone wanting to get into R/Cing, wether it be for serious racing, (I'm sure the Blitzer would go great in competition, maybe it should be have a class of it's own) or just bashing around home, the local park, or the building site just up the road, I recommend you go and find yourself a Blitzer Beetle, or one of the other 'Blitzer Family members'.
Geordieaggro
This model is the boss. I took her over alkl surfaces and she kicked the big one. Simple to build and brilliant to run. Gravel, no probs, Dirt No probs, Tarmac, No probs. What a stunner!!!
J3cubfan
The Blitzer Beetle is the 3rd generation of the famous Beetle body shell that we've all grown to love. The Blitzer Beetle is comprised of several components that where used within prior Tamiya Buggys. Here's what you get.
The frame is the tub type which was first used with the Falcon. You get oil filled shocks which enhance the Blitzer Beetle performance over rough terrain as well as on the road. You receive 4 oversize tires along with the RS540 motor. There are several parts that some will recognize from other Tamiya Cars.
Assembly is no big deal, typcial of Tamiya. I put mine together in a couple of evenings. The only complaint that I had with this kit is that the parts looked like they where just thrown in the box. I remember my Holiday Buggy and it was nice and organized it was. Nonetheless, I had no problem finding everything, just being picky is guess.
Once assembly was completed it was time to look over the body shell. The body had a few flash markets on the back fenders. These where sanded down with 1500 automotive grade sandpaper. Finally, the body shell was polished down with Novous #2 plastic polish and the windshield was installed. The windshield is a dark tint so really can not see the driver, I still painted him.
The Blitzer Beetle performs very predictably. I'fssve driven mine on grass, dirt and asphalt and it has perform very well. I have added the Novak Explorer II as well as Team Blue Star bearings. The cars goes along with a very good clip and 15 - 20 minutes runs are not out of the ordinary. Overall is this very nice vehicle and one that certainly complements my collection.